


The Spring Maiden

by SecondToTheRight



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, F/M, Yangst, they need therapy, this family is all kinds of messed up, this is what happens when i watch dbz, we all do, why can't i just write fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 08:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17679854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecondToTheRight/pseuds/SecondToTheRight
Summary: The Spring Maiden is dead. Long live the Spring Maiden. Or, Yang becomes a lot stronger. Or, if I were to write the Volume 7 finale. Warning: High levels of Yangst.





	The Spring Maiden

Raven spread out her wings, slowing her descent as the ground quickly widened underneath her. She breathed in deeply, still swaying in the wind as she felt herself begin to change. The transformation only lasted a fraction of a second. To most, it wouldn’t look like a bird turning into a human. Rather, a bird would simply disappear and a human would take its place. No matter how fast it happened or how many times she did it, however, the transformation would always unbalance her. Humans were not made to change in such a way. The shift in senses, in space, in limbs never felt natural. But Raven had mastered the act. Learned how to stifle her momentary loss of self. Under normal circumstances, she would revert to her original form smoothly, gracefully landing on her feet before walking as if nothing magical had taken place.

But things weren’t normal, not today, so she tripped on the grass, scrambling to her feet before taking off in a run. She gripped the hilt of her weapon, tightening it whenever a twig was crushed or leaves rustled in the greenery that surrounded her. The woods seemed to be swallowing her whole as if they wanted to keep her from ever escaping. Part of her wished they did, wished that they would consume her flesh and give her peace. Because fear was tightening its cold leash, making every step she took heavier than the last. She was running out of time. 

When she finally broke free, entering a small opening of grass and startling the man sitting by a makeshift camp, her pallid complexion had turned sickly grey.

“You need to go,” she said, cutting open a rift of red in the air with her sword. “She’s here.”

“Come with me,” Taiyang said, rushing to her. 

“I won’t leave the tribe.”

Her tone was firm, but she still faltered when he cupped her face in his hands, resting his forehead on hers. Only imminent death could make decades of hurt disappear in an instant.

“Raven, please,” he begged. 

She bit her lip, hard, hoping the taste of blood would be enough to kill the temptation. His breath mixing with hers, his thumbs gently moving back and forth against her cheeks, almost made it impossible. Almost. She kissed him because only imminent death could make Raven Branwen brave and weak all at once. She could feel him smile--he thought he had convinced her. But then his thumbs were wiping away her tears, and she was pushing him through the portal. 

“Goodbye, Tai,” she whispered.

She could still hear him screaming her name as she closed the rift and rushed back to her people, the taste of him mixing with the blood.

* 

Destroying the Schnee Manor had not been part of the plan when they arrived at Atlas. But when Weiss’s father decided to betray them in an absurd attempt to rein in his daughter, Yang lost the minute speck of sympathy she had for the guy. So when she ducked down to avoid the sharp tip of her silent adversary’s blade and heard it slash through one of the numerous portraits of Jacques Schnee, she couldn’t help but grin. That grin changed into a smirk when she realized Neo’s blade got stuck somewhere between his left nostril and white mustache.

Yang shifted her weight and pushed off the ground, landing an uppercut that sent Neo flying up, then meeting her with another punch on her way down. That one sent Neo crashing through a window and into the courtyard, where the others were leaving their own marks on the Schnee estate. As Yang made her way outside, she took it all in. A maniacal laugh cut through the chaos as Tyrion chased Uncle Qrow through the shrubs of the nearby garden, but the laugh was cut short when Nora’s hammer struck him, slamming him against one of the pillars. Ren and Jaune were several steps away, keeping the Schnee guards busy while simultaneously protecting them from the ricochet of debris. 

“Penny, _please_! This isn’t you.”

Blake--even further away--dodging blades and strings while Weiss tried to immobilize the body of girl they once knew, a girl they saw die. But Penny’s voice wasn’t the one coming out of her mouth. Like the rest of her, it had become Arthur Watts.

“Now, now, children. How many times must I explain this to you? There is no Penny. Just millions of numbers configured to do as I wish.”

A shower of green energy beams illuminated the night, aimed at the two of them, but Weiss had already summoned her knight, using its body to shield them. Were it not for the small, deadly and two-toned woman charging at Yang, she’d rush over there to join them, take the hits knowing that what she could send back would be even stronger. Instead, she put up her fists and readied her stance. Neo wouldn’t get the best of her again. Yang slowed her breathing, waited, and reacted.

She didn’t block every hit, and Neo could still shield herself with her umbrella. But Neo’s frustration was growing--she hadn’t expected Yang’s composure, nor her own lack of it. She lost her balance mid-way through a fancy overhead twirl, giving Yang an opening. One punch was all it took to send Neo back through the window she initially shattered through. 

“No!” 

This time it was Ruby. Her sister and Oscar--Ozpin--were the furthest away, facing Cinder Fall. Cinder was weaker than the last time they had met, that much was obvious. Earlier, when she had made her entrance, she didn’t carry the same arrogance. But she was still the Fall Maiden, and in her hand was the Relic of Knowledge. Ruby launched herself at her, but Ozpin pulled her back before a ball of fire singed more than just her battle skirt.

But Cinder wasn’t interested in the Relic, nor Ruby. She was looking at Yang--no, behind Yang. Something was wrong. Before Yang could turn and follow Cinder’s gaze, she felt something swipe at her shin, splitting open. Yang screamed, fell to a knee, and watched Neo zoom past her with a wink, her blade bloodied, freed, and ready. Cinder blasted Ozpin away from Ruby, Neo closing in.

Yang stretched out her hand--

“Ruby!” 

\--and lightning struck.

* 

The sky was blood red, the camp a sea of Grimm. Raven was out of dust, out of time, but the Grimm did not dare close in on her. Even they knew who she was meant for. She struggled to get to her feet, every muscle fatigued. Besides the occasional grunt from the Grimm, the camp was silent. But in the quiet, the cracks of bones, the squelches of bodies, the shrieks of pain and terror echoed loudly. No one was left. Raven had failed them all.

The sea parted and Raven’s knees buckled. She spent years running. She sacrificed everything to keep this moment forever stuck in the future, out of present’s reach. But there she was--Salem--smiling at her, waiting for her. Clouds started to gather, wind picking up around Raven, brushing her cheeks as Tai did only hours before.

Raven thought of Yang. Of her anger, of her disappointment, of her strength. Lightning began to crackle around her as every remaining space of her mind focused on her daughter, who was stubborn and reckless and shortsighted and beautiful and perfect.

The last thing she did was yell, energy pulsing through her as she barreled toward Salem. The last thing she saw was a pair of lilac eyes. Ones that looked at her with wonder and love and need. Ones she had left behind. Ones that would never forgive her. 

*

They talked about it once, while everyone else was asleep. Blake hadn’t been adapting well to the Atlas climate, and had made habit of sneaking into Yang’s bed, curling up next to her, relishing the heat radiating from her. She had been listening to Yang’s heartbeat, letting it lull her to sleep, when Yang started to tell her about that night at Beacon. Blake felt Yang’s arm tighten around her, thumb finding and tracing her scar as Yang described the scream--her scream--when Adam had stabbed her. No sound had ever made her feel so powerless, so petrified, because for the briefest moment, when all she could rely on was that sound, her mind came up with every possible scenario and zeroed in on the worst.

Blake never got a moment to guess what horror Yang went through. She saw it all: Yang’s shock at the lightning bolt that struck the space between Neo and Ruby. Her realization as she brought her hand to her chest, cradling it with her robotic one while it trembled. The shaking of her head from side to side, eyes shut tight, jaw clenched as tears streaked down her cheeks. Her breath quickening, unsteady and erratic. Her body curling into itself, tension coiling. And then, snapping.

The ground beneath Yang shattered along with the silence. Blake hadn’t realized no one had spoken until Yang started screaming. Shards of ice swirled around her, the floor caving in even more. 

“Raven?” Qrow whispered behind her, distraught, and it all clicked for Blake. The Spring Maiden hadn’t vanished or reincarnated--she had run away, and now she was gone, a new one taking her place.

“Blake, don’t,” Weiss warned, reaching out to stop her.

All she grabbed was Blake’s shadow. Yang was in pain, and Blake would stop at nothing to get to her. Well, except for a wall of fire, its architect laughing at the now isolated maiden. 

“I guess mommy really did love you,” Cinder said, before launching her black arm at Yang.

“Yang!” Blake screamed, turning back to her.

What she saw were flaming red eyes and a metal hand clasping the black one tightly, not at all interested in letting go. Yang wrapped Cinder’s arm around and around the prosthetic, its form bending and breaking as Yang pulled Cinder towards her. Cinder whimpered as she tried to dig her heels on the floor, but the distance was shrinking, her mistake now irreversible. Yang yanked her the rest of the way, Yang herself rushing forward, using the momentum to punch Cinder with the prosthetic, detaching it from her arm so when Cinder crashed at the other end of the courtyard, only the mangled metal went with her.

Before Blake could do anything, a high-pitched sound made everyone hold their heads and cover their ears. When the screeching finally stopped, their foes were on board a ship, too far gone to stop. Arthur Watts truly was prepared for everything. 

But Blake wasted no time thinking of the Relic they had lost, or the maiden they had gained. Instead, she rushed to Yang, wrapping her in her arms before she could crumple to the floor.

* 

Taiyang didn’t know how long he had been laying there, staring at the night sky. He hadn’t moved since he fell out of the portal, since he realized where Raven had sent him. It left him empty, broken like the moon he couldn’t look away from. For once, he allowed himself collapse and embrace his exhaustion. He closed his eyes and let his memories of red ones take him back to a time when everything hurt less. 

But even that didn’t last long. A buzzing lurched him back to reality, forcing him to fish his pocket for his scroll. He kept his eyes closed as he answered the call, knowing who it would be.

“What is it, Qrow?” he asked, waiting for the confirmation.

No response.

“Qrow?” he repeated, but still nothing.

Taiyang sat up, a painful knot now in his throat.

“Yang?” he asked softly.

And then he heard it, the sharp intake of breath.

“She wasn’t even here, Dad. She wasn’t even _here_ and she still left.” 

Taiyang sighed, his eyes prickling as his other hand reached out to the stone next to him.

“I know, little dragon,” he said, fingers tracing the name on the tombstone.

“I hate her," Yang said, her voice cracking.

“I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> Drop a comment! Let me know how to improve! Or, just say hi! It's been a while since I've written a fight scene, though this is more of a fight moment, so let me know how that went.


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